Ernest Hemingway once said that, "Any person's life told truly is a novel."

To us, each of these novels is, in and of itself, a unique work of art that documents our own journey on this adventure called life. We won't lose sight of that and don't want you to either, because the journey is as important as the destination.

With big dreams, journeys and aspirations come real emotional attachment. It is also this emotional connection that keeps us going, that allows us to commit real blood, sweat, and tears to accomplishing goals and seeing our dreams become reality.

It is important to know who we are and why we do this

... so that you understand how we bring peace of mind.

"Any person's life told truly is a novel."
-ERNEST HEMINGWAY

One life told

While there are many nuances to each aspect of our story, one of the most important points that we can impart on you is that ours is not just another sales story. We invest based on tried and true investment principles and the belief that owning expensive and overvalued assets can be devastating. We attempt to avoid this behavior at all costs seeking to find true investment bargains. These principles are implemented through a documented, repeatable investment process... not just the hunches, gut instincts, "experience" or “trust me, I know what I'm doing” thoughts of some Wall Street talking heads.

At iCM we bring a unique and principled approach that offers investors an uncommon experience, a clear one.

So what does this mean to you?

Imagine, for a second, when you have experienced rough times with your investment portfolio. Maybe it was 2008 or 2000, maybe it was far more recent where you could point to your holdings and say, "Something is just not right", but you did not know what it was.

The anxiety many investors feel, from time to time, is not always driven just by the result, but the path that is being taken. Investors intuitively understand that markets do not always just go up, and the road to their goals will have some bumps along the way. The Anxiety felt by investors is the "I don't know" component of that investment strategy that leads to real issues along the way to the end destination.

It is the elimination of the "I don't know” anxieties that iCM strives for by delivering a CLARITY of PURPOSE. By working with iCM, investors will know exactly how decisions are made, as well as, how we will behave in both good markets and bad.

It is this uncommon clarity that is our commitment to every investor, and by virtue of this clarity, every investor can sleep more peacefully at night knowing that we are on your side.

History

Peace of Mind

This emotional connection we speak of, this attachment that drives our dreams and aspirations, it comes with a natural fear of the unknown and many thoughts that "keep us up at night." Neither we, nor anyone else, should tell you what you should dream, nor should we tell you how you should feel about the manifestation of those dreams as a future reality. So, we aren't even going to try. We don't have to. As professionals, it's often important to allow the student to become the teacher, to step away just far enough to appreciate the forest for the trees. While we appreciate that your goals and fears may be much different than the real emotions from non-investment professionals detailed below, just know that we understand and appreciate those as well.

Philosophy

In order to be successful as an investor, it is vital to have a well-articulated investment philosophy that is based on tried and true investment principals.

While a focus on investment philosophy permeates the large-dollar investor landscape, it is surprising how little focus is given to investment philosophy by smaller institutions, individual investors, and even some financial advisors. Philosophy is crucial to your success as an investor; it is essentially the road map, blueprint or even genetic code of an investment program. That is, investment philosophy defines our very character and nature.

A child with both parents exceeding 6 feet in height is less likely to be below average in height than those that are born from two parents that are both 5 feet tall. Philosophy epitomizes a permanent state of individuality.

Process

Long Term Capital Markets Expectation

Historical estimates of risk and return.

Long Term Valuation Analysis

Quantify the return opportunity from various valuation levels.

Tactical Decision

The over or underweight decision and as well as product selection, implemented in a series of meaningful steps, building into a position as valuations become more compelling.

Current Valuation Analysis

Measure and Quantify fair value as well as dispersion from fair value while being mindful of paradigm shifts.

Behavior

At iCM we take investment philosophy very seriously. While there are many intricacies to our own investment philosophy that we invite you to explore, central to our belief system is the concept that Valuations Matter. For investors with long term goals exceeding a market cycle, but shorter than the 100 years that most would consider to be an academic time horizon, few things matter more in driving risk and return in asset classes than valuations, in particular beginning period valuations.